Pork Chop Express | Comet Loki | Motor 6374 | VESC | 10S4P DIY 18650 Pack | Benchwheel

I think there are some group buys coming for liion packs in Europe. Recently one has been able to provide a 10s4p for 190 € welded with copper, it was about 250 at the end including bms, charger, led status indicator and integrated switch (euros, which is something like 200 pounds). Would are probably good with a 10s3p, that would cost even less. @ajaynagra may have something for you in the near future, ask him

Check eu.nkon.nl For example 10s4p pack (40 samsung r25 cells) 120e cells alone

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Good point. I have shown interest in the Europe group buy for a fair few parts so will look for a battery buy too. Still torn. With some thinking about the enclosure I am not totally sure it would be that much of an issue to open it up and charge a couple of batteries each night. That said if it can be done for not much more then it would be great to just plug in.

Thats a great price. Thanks! Have you used them before?

So the board, batteries and nickel strip are here. I feel like I have ordered parts from every corner of the globe and everyday the postie comes down the drive its like christmas!

Good deal on a benchwheel remote now too. Just to finalize my order through the group buy and everything will be ordered. Incidentally anyone know where I could get a 12mm / 14t motor pulley if they aren’t available with the group buy. I have seen this website but not really sure what I am looking for? http://www.beltingonline.com/timing-pulleys-bars-272/?zenid=m0jfch7qt65ked5ue6c4m025a2

Thanks Norcs

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So a quick little progress update.

I have collected all I needed now for the battery build so I have been working on that.

I have capped off all the positive terminals with insulation rings and then glued the parallel sets together.

Then I have soldered the nickel plates to the batteries and reinforced the serial connections. Next I will solder strips to connect these two halves then fold them out on themselves. I am checking connections as I go and all looks solid so far. The only thing that concerns me is how I would know if one of these solder joints was to go bad?

The glue and tape seems to hold them tight and the shrink wrap will pull around the pack so perhaps it wont be an issue. I must say soldering has been fine. Its pretty cold in the workshop at the moment (unheated) so not having any issues with too much heat in the cells.

Anyway I couple of pics to show progress and a hat tip to @whitepony for inspiration

Norcs

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Are those Samsung inr?

Yes, sure are :slight_smile:

So the battery build is almost finished apart from an xt90 to cap off the power leads and a mesh wrap and shrink wrap over the top. Pretty happy with it for a first attempt and Soldered only. Was a little concerned about the balancing wires wearing through and shorting out on the side of the nickle as they run over the battery and down the middle so I have encased them in hot glue at the turn. Checked the balance leads are all working and they are and the whole battery is sat at 35.7v :grinning: Can’t wait for the rest of my parts to turn up now.

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Battery finished :blush:

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OK so I have been quietly getting parts together and making the last plans but the biggest progress comes from my enclosure. I’ve built a vacuum forming oven and table and managed to get a good form on a single piece enclosure for my battery, VESC and receiver with room to spare! Here are a few pics.

Not happy with this one. I didn’t get the frame over the mould cleanly enough.

This one was much better

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Things have moved on a bit now so here are a few pic updates. I actually plugged it all in a couple of nights ago with a 3s lipo and all seemed to go well. Tonight I wired the battery, antispark and VESC together in the enclosure and (with fingers crossed) switched it on. All seems to be well. I’ll have time this week to set up the VESC while I wait for a friend to trim down and weld my motor mount. Really can’t wait to see this thing finished now and give it a ride!

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Well I’m not sure that the inserts that I have are going to be suitable for holding the enclosure on but it is otherwise finished so u grabbed a couple of massive velcro straps (you know the ones that hold mattresses on a roll at ikea) strapped the enclosure to the bottom of the board and gave it a run.

OH MY GOD THIS IS INCREDIBLE.

I mean I know most guys have a big grin when riding but I wasn’t expecting that! So much fun I didn’t want to stop but it’s gone midnight here! Benchwheel remote will take some getting used to (slow mode is really slow so it’s really just one mode).

My mount is welded so to get the right space for the belt I had to add an extra washer to the truck. Don’t think this will cause me any issues in the long run. But more pressing is that I lost 2 set screws from the motor pulley. As I will have to remove it to get the trucks sprayed I didn’t use loctite. Fail. Will pick up some more but in peoples experience is loctite enough to hold them in and stop the pulley moving across the motor shaft? I have a keyway so not concerned about the pulley slipping.

I’m still stood here smiling!

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Looks good! Maybe you haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but do you know your range/top speed yet? I’m planning on a similar setup with a 10s4p battery, so I’m curious. Do you have a BMS wired up?

Oh also, how are you monintoring the battery voltage while you ride?

Thanks!

Hey,

Yes I have had chance to do some limited testing before I smashed my motor :confounded:!

Bearing in mind I am a pretty heavy guy (circa 103kg) I was getting about 12 miles or about 20km on a (40.5v) charge with a reserved cut off of 33v (could go lower but there isn’t much capacity past 33v). Board tops out at about 26mph (40kph), which I think is plenty fast enough. Crusing at about 15-18mph is comfortable.

I dont use a BMS.and rely on the VESC cutoffs. What I have been doing until I am confident that there is little drift between charges is checking balancing using the balance plugs. This has been a bit pf a pain to be honest.

One thing I am yet to get my head around is how other people are so confident that the battery build is good. I have had a balance lead come adrift which was an easy fix but even with a BMS I would want to be confident that everything is still wired up ok.

I have a battery monitor which needs wiring in but I want to vacform a cover for it first. Still a work in progress! :slight_smile:

Considering, that’s a pretty good range and top speed. Thanks for all the info. Are you going to go for a battery monitor with an alarm? Also, what heat shrink/wrap did you use?

I have a bms, and​ for the first couple cycles, i check the voltage of each pack after charging. This keeps my confidence in my pack :slight_smile:

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